Abstract
The distribution of plants is well correlated with climate. For example, Köppen’s (1936) climate classification is based on major biomes which are subdivided with respect to various relationships between temperature and precipitation, whilst Thornthwaite’s (1948) classification is based on potential evapo-transpiration. The distribution of major vegetation types is explained and even predicted by such classifications. Resistance to low temperatures, however, operates at the species level, and the distribution of species is strongly related to their resistance to winter frosts (Sakai and Larcher 1987; Larcher 1995). Species from cold climates are likely to have high resistance to frost while those from warmer climates are less frost hardy. Consequently, a classification of climate that takes minimum temperatures into account is most likely to be correlated with frost resistance of species. In horticulture, the concept of plant hardiness zones is well established. These zones are based on the lowest mean air temperatures of the coldest month and, as their first usage was in the USA (Rehder 1940), are based on the Fahrenheit scale of temperature. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) refined the method and adopted 11 hardiness zones — from Zone 1 with mean minimum air temperatures of less than −50°F with incremental bands of 10°F until Zone 10 (30–40°F) and finally Zone 11 (>40°F) (see Appendix; Rehder 1940; Huxley et al. 1992).
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Bannister, P., Neuner, G. (2001). Frost Resistance and the Distribution of Conifers. In: Bigras, F.J., Colombo, S.J. (eds) Conifer Cold Hardiness. Tree Physiology, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9650-3_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9650-3_1
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